Truth Or Dare
by Dartz-IRL
Summary: The traditional SxA WAFF fic. So, did Shinji really mean what he said?


**Truth Or Dare:**

By:DartzIRL

Preread byHimonky, Syo and with input from Arkiel

Summary: So, did Shinji really mean it? Or was it just a convenient name to win the game? Based on STC fanfiction technology.

I don't own NGE someone else does.  
A lot of stuff might be mentioned that's copyright.  
I don't own that either.  
It's just for the naked Rei doll prize anyway...

**I...I**

Shinji knew he'd suffer in the morning for this. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he'd regret it, but still, he couldn't help but accede Kensuke's demands. It was best to go with the group, that much was certain. Though, whether it would be Misato who punished him, when she discovered where her stash had gone, or his mother in heaven when he finally poisoned himself with the stuff, he didn't know.

Frankly, he wasn't sure if he cared.

The bedroom window was open, a chill breeze blowing over the assembled group of teenagers, but Shinji still felt himself sweating as if he'd been dropped in a furnace. His face burned as red as Sohryu's Unit 02, and he was sure...damn sure that if he even tried to get to his feet, his legs would buckle out from under him, and he'd tip face first into Asuka...who was seated opposite him... and her buxom breasts. Another cause of death added to his mental list. Hikari beside her would probably join the slaughter for good measure.

Frankly, if he had to die, he wouldn't mind dying like that.

He gulped, his gut gurgling, his teenage body screaming for mercy from the alcoholic menace he had flooded it with. He looked down at the gaping dark maw of the golden can, staring at the last dregs of foamy liquid within.

He almost didn't want to...

Almost.

Kensuke, and Touji flanked him, the trio having built a nice pyramid with their empty's. He swallowed the last of his can in one quick, brutal gulp, before adding it to the alcoholic monument.

"'Nother one Shin'?" Kensuke shoved a chilled can into his hand.

"Thanks," he slurred, not really sure if he should. Four cans, this would be. Too much. Was this how Misato always felt? Hehe, he could see Asuka's panties. A brief, forbidden glimpse while she recrossed her skirted legs. They were a pure white. To his beer addled brain, that was all that mattered.

He cracked the can with a hiss, and took his first mouthful of the bitter liquid. Sure, just one more couldn't hurt too much now, could it, he reasoned with himself. One in four was less that one in three. So then, the more he had, the less he had relatively. It made sense. And, isn't everyone else doing the same? It wouldn't do to be the sober Shinji who ruined everyone's fun. Wouldn't be popular if he did. And sure, wasn't this great?

Great fun...hiccup.

"Truth or dare," Touji challenged.

The half-full coke bottle pointed at Asuka.

"Dare, naturally," she answered, her icy eyes staring the tracksuited teenager down.

Abruptly, Shinji felt himself pulled into a huddle, the hot beer-breath of his companions sucking the sweat from his pores. A pair of impossibly heavy hands seemed to push him into the floor, and he struggle to keep herself.

"Dare! It's a dare! We can make her do whatever we want," Kensuke whispered, well, it was as close to a whisper as the excited otaku could come.

"Not that," Touji growled.

"Of course not. I'm not sick, I only want her to take her bra off. You know she'll do it. She's too proud to lose by refusing,"

Shinji couldn't fail to see the logic, or the attraction behind his plan. But, would that really be...correct? In the spirit of the game anyway. To dare someone to do what you knew they wouldn't?

"Stop it!" Touji hissed. "If she gets caught, or screams, or beats us up?"

Shinji couldn't fail to see the logic in that either. The memory of the German girl that day in the arcade, fighting that gang of thugs, loomed large in his consciousness. Self-preservation won the day.

"He's right y'know."

"Are you two gay? Well, you are leaning pretty close to each other I suppose."

Shinji and Touji looked at each other, staring into each other's deep glistening eyes for a moment, aware of their respective arms running across their backs.

"NO WAY!" the pair shouted, jumping back from each other.

"I'd never..." Shinji whined, red-faced and embarrassed.

"How'd you like to drink that can through your ass!" Touji blared, fist raised in indignant fury.

"Thirty seconds or it passes to us," Asuka chimed in flatly. "And you lose your dare. Those are the rules."

"Well, any better suggestions?" Kensuke asked, looking to the red-faced pair.

Shinji took a gulp from his can, and meekly shook his head. A sudden feeling of foreboding overwhelmed him. It was a sensation the boy was unfortunately familiar with. It was that feeling, a gurgling, sickening feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach, rising and slinking up his throat like a hairy caterpillar, that he was about to die a very painful and very slow death.

Well, he thought, at least he would go out in style.

"Well, have you decided?"

"We have," Kensuke replied, voice bolstered by Dutch courage.

"And,"

He stared right at her. Her eyes were like those a Spartan warrior before a hundred thousand Persians, ice- eyes seeming to issue a '_Molon Labe'_ challenge. Shinji glanced at the Samurai dressed hamster silk-screened onto the Ebichu can, before turning his gaze to Hikari's bespectacled face.

She fidgeted in her school uniform for a moment, before glancing over at Touji, then, silently taking the smallest of sips from her own can. How long had she been nursing that one?

"We dare you..." Kensuke hesitated.

Or was it a pause for a dramatic effect?

"To take your bra off,"

The expected explosion came, but not from the expected source.

"How_dare_ you," The bespectacled girl blasted. "A trio of perverts, that's what you are. To think that you could even t_hink_ about daring such a debauched thing,"

She was on her feet, hands firmly planted on hips. Shinji though, just watched Asuka's flat eyes switch between the three of them. A leaden guilt slowly built deep inside him, roiling and boiling around. Asuka was about to debase herself, just to win a stupid game, and he had been a part of it. A _willing_ part of it. He was using her own pride against her, turning her hatred of defeat into some horrible monster that would leave her loathing him, and herself, for weeks. The last thing the boy wanted was for Asuka to _hate_ him. Well, he wasn't too sure that she didn't already...whatever he meant by that himself he didn't know. But if she did...then...what now?

His train of thought derailed into a spectacular fireball wreck as Asuka slowly and surely pushed herself to her feet. He stared fearfully up at the towering caucasian girl, wondering just when the utter hellstorm of deserved fury would break.

"It's a legitimate tactic!" Touji countered, glaring the class representative down. "Dare people to do things they don't want to do,"

"But you wouldn't bare yourself naked in front of two lady's, now would you. Just drop your pants and bare it all, it's the same thing."

"Guys..." Kensuke nudged in. " I think she's about to."

An expectant hush fell, as eight eyes rose up to see what the German girl would do next. One, single thought occupied the minds of those watching. She couldn't _really_ be about to, could she?

A devils grin crept across her face.

"No problem," she answered with uncharacteristic coolness. "I'll take it off if you want."

A stunned silence.

Asuka confidently strode out the door, a roar of a laugh sneaking in as she left. Outside, Misato was having a good time.

"Hey!, Where's she going?" Kensuke demanded. "She's walked out. That means we win!"

"Since when?"

"Since she won't do it?" Touji butted. "They're the rules!"

"Oh, but...she said..." Hikari trailed off as she looked to the open door. "She said she would."

What could Asuka be planning? And how in the name of...something...could she plan? She'd drank easily as much as Shinji, and he _knew_ he wasn't thinking straight.

A few minutes later, Asuka returned, striding in with her head held high, and a white brassiere in her hand.

"There," she stated triumphantly, as she dropped it to the floor at Kensuke's feet.

"That's not fair!" A pair of stooges bawled in unison.

Hikari hooted with glee, clapping as she suddenly realised what had happened.

"You never said she had to take it off _here_, did you?" she chirruped.

"Besides, how do we even know it's yours? It could be one of Misato's." Kensuke countered.

Shinji eyed the white undergarment for a moment.

"No, that's too small to be one of Misato's," he stated flatly. After all, he should know better than most, he'd been the one who'd usually ended up washing the things.

"What did you say, _Third Child?_" Asuka howled into his face. "Are you saying my _breasts_ are _small_?" she cupped the pair in her hands.

"No!" Shinji whined "It's just...it's just..."

They're smaller than Misato's, he wanted to say, but the words had run aground somewhere in his gullet. He hiccuped. He gulped. He wished so desperately for an escape from the German girls clutches of doom. And still she leant over him, his line of sight running straight down the dark valley of her cleavage. To Shinji, it seemed as if it could be his valley of death. He wanted so desperately just to apologise, to fluff it away, to say they were really actually quite big. Neither would result in survival, but, one might make his death quick. Unfortunately for him, all he could think of now was a catchy pre-impact hit song by Coolio.

"Just_what_?" Sohryu pressed, drawing impossibly close to him.

Shinji whimpered, grey eyes locking with blue. This was his punishment, this was his retribution. For staring at her, for wishing for death within her buxom, for that stolen peek of panty, for every possible wrong he could have ever done to her. All those chickens were coming home to roost now, weren't they?

"They're..."

Touji, Kensuke,...Misato? Somebody help me!

"Yes, They're?"

Nice. Big. Bouncy. Busty. Buxom. Soft. Safe. Snuggly. Cuddly. Round. Pillow. Long. Hard. Stiff. Pressure...Damn. He was sure she could see _that_ too...He was such a pervert.

"I don't think about such things!" he whimpered, forcing his eyes to the jeering beer hamster. His cheeks were burning bright with shame.

"Sometimes, you really are a boring_ child_," Asuka lamented, being sure to emphasise _child_, just for an added sting.

Shinji sighed, relieved. He cupped his growing discomfort in a conspicuously inconspicuous manner as Asuka sat down once more, her now unsupported breasts springing in her yellow sundress as she did so.

"Well, I guess that's our turn now then," she said.

"Yeah, well do your worst, Ilsa She-Wolf of NERV, we're ready for you!" Touji challenged.

Kensuke groaned, his master plan having collapsed in ruins around him. Shinji prayed the bottle wouldn't point to him next time.

Asuka whipped it around, hard and fast, the pet-bottle juddering and bouncing on the carpet as it span. The brown liquid inside sloshed and fizzed as the top tracked past each player in turn, each player watching it in return, slowly getting dizzy as they did so. With heart stopping inevitability, friction began to win the battle between itself and inertia, the bottles kinetic energy slowly being scrubbed away. It struggled, it slowed, it wobbled, it slowed some more. It creaked around, it's danger red cap indicating towards each of the players one last time.

Touji...past and safe. No problem.

Hikari...safe, and a sigh of relief.

Asuka...Lightning never did strike twice, did it?

Kensuke... It creaked, stuttered and wobbled again. But kept going, thankfully.

Shinji... It wobbled one last time, before grinding slowly, and finally to a halt. He gulped, took a drink from his can, then gulped again. He willed it to move, to roll over or flip, to push over towards Touji. Maybe if somebody opened the door. A gust of breeze might? Please. Somebody knock it, or move it, or do something, anything to save him.

Too late.

"Truth, or dare," Asuka challenged, a Charles Whitman grin spreading across her face.

"Dare! Dare!" Touji barked in his ear. "Show her the spirit of real men!"

That was easy to say, he wasn't the one staring down the bottle of doom. Touji Toppa Gurren Lagaan...hehe. Why did he think of that again?

"Truth Shinji, Ask for truth, it's the safe one, especially after that last one." Kensuke advised.

Shinji nodded. What was it Hikari had said? Bare all in front of the ladies? He didn't want them to see his...doodle. He couldn't even _think_ it, let alone do it. So, truth then, would be the safe option, the easy way out.

Or, he could just quit.

A tempting choice indeed. He'd spare himself the embarrassment of revealing his deepest, darkest, most innermost secrets. Though, he would have to put up with Touji and Kensuke afterwards. He'd still get teased mercilessly either way.

Kobayashi Maru.

Damn.

"Truth," he half whispered, finishing his fourth can shortly afterwards.

Asuka features flashed with disappointment, before she dived into a quick huddle with her friend. The girls whispered like a pair of witches over a cauldron, fiendishly deciding Shinji's fate.

"Well, I should've expected you take the safe route Shin-man," Touji sighed "I guess, it was the better choice for you."

"We'd've lost if you'd taken the dare for sure," Kensuke noted.

"Yeah," Shinji sighed despondantly. " Just give me another beer."

He knew he'd need it this time. One in five less than one in four. Courage and honour. Besides, he wasn't driving home? Though, an Angel could attack? Shinji Ikari, for the crime of PUI you are hereby banned from using an Evangelion on the public road for a period not less than two years. Damn, he wasn't thinking straight. He should stop now. No, just a little loose in frame, nothing serious. Sure, he was stepped in beer so far, should he drink no more, Returning it would be as tedious as to go o'er.

Damned foreign literature classes.

"Agreed," the girls said in unison.

Shinji gulped, recoiling in fear. The pair raised their fists

"Jan-Ken-Pon,"

"Ein-Zwei-Drei!"

Hikari had her hand held flat. Paper.

Asuka, had chosen the solid, robust rock, everlasting, but conspicuously vulnerable to being covered.

"Yes!" Hikari cheered.

Oh no. Well, at least she wasn't Asuka. Hikari was proper, traditional even. This wouldn't be too bad. Even if she did have a distinctly sinister leer in her eyes.

"Shinji Ikari, on pain of immediate dishonour and seppukku if you lie, who in our class do you have a crush on?"

She might aswell have asked 'Who do you want as your second?' The boy glanced between the two girls. His eyes were those of the unfortunate pigeon, trapped by two hungry cats, his gaze darting from an impatient Asuka, to a staring Hikari, as he waited for the final blow.

"Thirty Seconds or you forfeit and we win,"

Okay... get your head to together. Just pick a name, it can't be that hard can it? Fifteen girls, fifteen choices, he could say any one of them, and nobody would have the right to question. For all they know, it could be the truth, couldn't it? But then, they would gather together, in that way unique to the female subspecies. They would chatter and cackle, giggle and snigger like witches over a cauldron. They would tell whomever he named. There would be passes, advances, more giggling at whispered remarks as he passed.

He should say nothing! No crush on anybody. But, they wouldn't accept that would that. They'd just say he was lying. There was no real way he could prove he wasn't, was there? Himself, and his friends would lose the game. Damned if he did, damned if he didn't.

All the while, a strange, demented idea rang in his head. He wasn't sure how it had gotten there, or why it seemed like it made so much sense, but it did. He couldn't justify it, he couldn't even try, he just knew that somehow it was the right thing to do. Like using a steel fork to dislodge a stuck piece of toast from a live toaster.

"Hurry up," Asuka chided, tapping her wristwatch

Still, the name hung on his tongue, lingering, daring him to allow it to escape. Eight ears listened for the next word out of his mouth, a word that would either damn him, or save him. A cold sweat slowly formed on his brow.

"Time's up _Third Child_. Now, tell us, who do you have a crush on? Either that, or we win."

Boy was she in for surprise.

"Um..." Shinji swallowed. "A..."

The word lodged itself and refused to come out, one final mental safety to ensure self preservation. He grimaced and swallowed it, quietly wishing that he had picked 'dare' instead.

"Keiko Asahi? Kazumi Amano?" a pair of voices questioned. "Kensuke Aida even?"

"No!" Shinji barked. Definitely not that one anyway.

"Then who, who do you have a crush on in our class?" Hikari demanded. "Answer now, or it's game over."

Dammit.

"Asuka!"

The single syllable rang of the walls, fading into a sudden, black silence. Outside, there came a roar of laughter which, though muffled somewhat by the walls and doorway, seemed almost to mock the boy. Asuka herself, looked to Shinji as if she'd just sat on a live sparkplug. She had the same look of stunned shock on her face.

"Oh," she said, her voice small, almost swallowed by the noise outside.

Then suddenly, even that stopped, a immediate, seemingly interminable silence closing down on top of the group. Shinji was left with the sudden, disgusting feeling that he'd done something utterly and terribly stupid. The evils of the drink, he thought ruefully, before taking another sip.

"Well..." Asuka started, before something stopped her.

Well what? Begged the question, but nobody dared to ask. Nobody dared poke that wasp's nest. Hikari looked to her friend, a goofy grin quickly fading to an odd confused expression. Shinji whimpered as the redhead stood up. She seemed impossibly tall, towering over him like her own Unit 02.

"This is just a stupid children's game anyway!" she snorted, storming out of the room, slamming the door behind her hard enough that it bounced back halfway on it's runners.

"Asuka, wait!" Hikari jumped up, calling after her. The class rep looked down at the still seated, and still stunned boys, twiddled one of her pigtails for a moment as she thought, then abruptly rushed after the German girl.

Shinji suddenly felt impossibly guilty.

"Nice one Shin-man," Touji slapped him on the back. "I think that means we win,"

"Well, they've left the game, so I guessed it does," Kensuke chipped in.

Shinji groaned. It didn't feel fair. Like winning a game by pissing your opponent off so much he got fed up and left. It felt oddly hollow. And he still felt sick with guilt.

_Really_sick.

Shit!

He jumped up, his legs threatening to give, before he struggled out the half open door, and into the living room. His guilt snaked it's way up the back of his throat, a chimey, bilious taste burning it's way into his mouth. The trio of adults sitting at the table looked up at him for a moment, but he could only groan at them.

"Shinji, you okay?" Misato questioned calmly.

"You cooked dinner today, didn't you Misato?" Doctor Akagi teased.

"Hey! That only happened the once..."

"I'm..." Shinji propped himself against the couch. "I'm O...Blurk"

His body gave one final, great wretch as he heaved the contents of his guts onto the red carpet. Pale, chunky, industrial waste vomit splashed off the floor and against his trousers. The boy caught himself for a moment, before it's unique bouquet assaulted his nostrils. He puked for a second time,

"Shinji!"

Kensuke and Touji appeared at the bedroom door, each holding a can of beer. Realising their mistake, they quickly tossed the cans away behind them, spilling the contents on the floor, but it was already too late. It was Kaji who'd noticed them first, shortly followed by the blonde Doctor.

"Misato," they said in unison.

She looked to the rough, unshaven man, who was a little bemused, to the cross-looking ersatz blonde doctor, to the boys and their drunk-flushed cheeks, and then finally at the child retching his guts out on the carpet. The pieces slowly slotted into their proper order.

"Aw jeez..." she sighed.

That was pretty much the end of the party anyway. The adults helped the still sick boy to bed, Misato babbling about the evils of teenage drinking, how she was so screwed when the Commander found out, how Shinji was going to be in so much trouble when the morning came, and wondering just how they managed to sneak the cans away.

At least Shinji would have plenty of time to sleep it off.

**I...I**

Misato paced around the kitchen, twitching, then looking at her empty fridge, then at the two sickly teenagers sitting shamefully at the MDF kitchen table. The children's guardian let out a long, temper calming sigh.

"How could you two even _think_ of doing something like this?"

She was answered only by a guilty lowering of heads. Shinji swallowed the sick snaking up the back of his throat. The boys head felt like somebody had parked a 747 inside it, then revved all four engines up to full power. A hard, throbbing headache thundered inside his skull, crying out for a paracetamol, an aspirin, even a can of coffee.

"Well," Asuka snorted, "It was Ken.."

"I don't want to hear it Sohryu," Misato snapped her down. She really was pissed this time. She only ever used the pilot's last names when she was furious. Her tone was hard enough to cut diamond. It was a tone Shinji had only ever heard the once, and he never wanted to hear it again.

The boy groaned shamefully. His skull felt like it was about to burst like an overinflated tyre.

"But, everyone else our age dr..." Asuka tried.

Misato glared raw baleful burning eyed fury at her.

"You are _not_ everyoneelse. You're lives do not belong to yourselves any more. You are NERV Pilot's. You have a duty to the world beyond what any normal teenager could possibly comprehend. Now, can you tell me, what would have happened if an Angel had attacked and you two had to Pilot steaming drunk?"

Asuka thought. Shinji hid. Their guardian was right, and he knew it. He'd known it as he'd cracked the first can, hell, he'd tried to resist but Kensuke had demanded, he'd definitely been sure of it the moment that first can splashed across the carpet. Never drink again, that was the lesson.

"You drink more for breakfast each morning than we did!" Asuka countered.

Shinji cringed, wondering if his room-mate's mission wasn't just to wake the sleeping giant, but to well and truly piss her off by kicking her in a very sensitive place, then pouring verbal salt on the wound.

"That's different! Misato barked her down. "I'm older. I'm used to drinking, and I can handle it better than either of you. Never mind the fact that I never did anything like this when I was fourteen When I was your age I...I..."

Shinji noticed her shiver, a chill running it's way up the back of her spine, quivering each part of her body in turn. She was furious alright. She buried her face in her hands for a moment, letting out another long, growling sigh of frustration.

"Did the exact same?" Sohryu finished sardonically.

"No! Dammit, I'm beginning to sound like my own mother because of you. Look, just get yourselves to school, and be sure to tell your friends that their parents should be expecting a call from me. We'll discuss this more this afternoon."

Asuka snarled, but common sense prevailed and she held her tongue. The two teenagers quietly gathered their schoolbooks into their satchels, antagonizing their guardian, and commanding officer any further, would not do either of them any good. Shinji, though would have paid good money to understand what Asuka was saying under her breath. It may have been German, and while Shinji's working German only consisted of spots from the History Channel, even he could tell that whatever it was, wasn't very nice at all.

He looked back at his guardian, before he left. She had a phone book in her arms, scanning through for a cheap carpet cleaning company. Shinji swallowed that nauseating bulb of guilt once more.

"Sorry," he said.

"I'm sure you are Shinji," Misato sighed, "I'm sure you are."

The boy groaned, before quietly hand-closing the door behind him. The more he thought about it, the more he was sure. He'd never seen Misato so annoyed before. This was worse than the fourth Angel even. It occurred to him that, for that sake of going with the group, he might just have alienated one of the few people he thought cared for him.

Nice one Shinji, his own mental bully kicked. Try to please everyone, end up pleasing no-one, as usual.

An electronic chime further down the corridor announced the arrival of the lift. Shinji turned to see Asuka stepping inside, she turned on her heel, and glared straight at him, her facial features seeming moulded from unyielding concrete.

"Hey wait!" He called after her, dashing down the corridor to try and catch the lift. His tennis shoes squeaked against the vinyl floor, the sound reverberating against the precast concrete walls. She did wait, for a few moments at least, as if considering something, or maybe even teasing him. Of course, as soon as the boy began to think that maybe, _just_ maybe, he might make it, Sohryu idly brushed her finger against one of the buttons, without out even breaking eye contact with him. Her frozen glare was only broken by an equally cold steel door rumbling shut.

She did that on purpose...

"Damn," he sighed, stopping to catch his breath. It looked like it was going to be one of _those_ days.

**I...I**

Asuka was furious, she didn't know quite why, but she knew she was. It was a seething, boiling rage building deep inside her. Her body felt as if it were a full propane tank that had been dropped on a bonfire. It was boiling inside, the pressure building, until finally, her mental walls would finally burst, and all hell would break loose. It was only a matter of time, but, she didn't want to wait.

Instead, she stared across the bustling lunchtime schoolyard, past the cliques and crowds, away from the throng of perverts gathering around the gruesome twosome of Kensuke and Touji and beyond the patrolling teacher casting an eagle eye over proceedings, straight at the object of her hatred, that boy who had so spectacularly humiliated her only thirteen hours earlier, Shinji Ikari.

He himself sat on a wall, quietly picking from his own lunch box, with that other subject of Sohryu's hatred, the robotic_ First_ Child, sitting beside him, listening to his inane and childish babble. Even the very name suggested that the cerulean haired Pilot was superior to herself in some undeserved intangible and immutable way, and Asuka hated her all the more for it. The longer she watched, the hotter her the furnace of her fury blazed inside.

"Look at those perverts over there. They're selling those pictures again you know?" Class Rep Hikari gestured towards the thronging teenagers.

Asuka was silent for a moment.

"Look at that idiot, look at the way he just talks at her," she growled. "She never even answers. Haha, he still can't get the idea that she's not even listening to him,"

Hikari blinked at the sudden, random change of subject.

"Maybe she's just a listener," she suggested, idly twirling one of her pigtails. "She seems quite happy for him to be talking with her anyway,"

Asuka snorted, and tossed her hair.

"_At_ her Hikari, _at_her." the second child corrected. "It's like he's playing verbal ping pong with a haystack. You serve the ball, hear a dull thud and it never comes back to you."

Hikari grinned teasingly.

"Are we jealous maybe, that he's spending so much time with Rei, especially after he said he had a crush on you last night."

The landmine went click, pop and...for a brief moment in time, the cheeks of Unit 02's Pilot matched to colour of her machine, a hot shame filtering past her mental barrier quicker than she could've possibly hoped to have caught it. Then, came the bang.

"No!" Asuka blasted. "Never!" she bombed. "How could you even think that I would lower myself to that?"

She was standing now, legs commandingly apart, feet planted hard into the concrete. She stared down her erstwhile friend, daring the class representative to answer with anything other than a well deserved, on the knees and kiss the ground apology. Hikari could only stutter, and stare blankly into the force of the onslaught. She glanced to her feet, her school shoes, then up at the towering teenager, then nervously fixed her skirt.

"Well, if a boy said he had a crush on me..." she muttered softly, "I'd guess I'd want to know if he really meant it, even if it was just a game,"

Asuka's mouth activated shortly before her brain had chance to catch up. What came out was a rather strangulated, autonomic "That's stupidly romantic Hikari..." followed by an abrupt halt as her brain finally caught her gob and tackled it to the ground.

There was a tense pause. Hikari shivered.

The siren mounted on the school's roof, decided that that would be a good moment to blare out it's warning. There was a moments pause, as it's washing, wailing tone's sailed over the playground, before it's meaning finally clicked in the mind's of those present.

"_A state of emergency has now been declared. Evacuation procedures in effect. All eligible citizens please report to evacuation locations . Repeat; A state of emergency has now been declared. Evacuation procedures in effect. All eligible citizens are to report to evacuation locations,"_ the cities address system announced in crackling electronic tones.

The announcement cracked the shell on the moment's reverie, as abruptly, the student mill began once more to questions of 'Evacuation?", "To where?" There were answers, well attempts at answers, but one thing that everybody knew for sure was that, to be evacuating the city, it had to be bad.

For three children though, it just meant another long day's work. Asuka grinned at the prospect.

**I...I**

The Tenth Angel proved to be, despite the all the hype, the evacuations, the long decimal predictions of success and general potential deadliness, perhaps the biggest damp squib of all the Angels so far. Catch it, cut it, go out for dinner, what could've been any easier? Asuka asked herself. It was almost disappointing that her victory had been tarnished somewhat by it's ease.

Almost.

Not enough that she couldn't bask in the glory of it for a while anyway.

Shinji might've been the one who'd caught it, and wondergirl may have knocked it's AT field down, but it was herself who'd actually placed the killer blow that'd finished it off for good. She'd been the one who'd put the prog-knife through the monster's heart, if she hadn't been there, well, who knows what would've happened?

The only thing truly souring her glorious victory was that, as a result, she had been forced to the cramped, hot back seat of Misato's car (If it could even deserve that title) with the hated first child.

Asuka never realised how badly that girl actually smelled until she'd been forced into such close quarters. Body odour, blood, cheap haircare products, and garlic, did wondergirl ever bother to wash herself more than once a week? Did she ever bother to brush that unruly hair of hers? Did she even shave?

Of course, Asuka couldn't sit in the front seat, _that_ was reserved for the great and glorious Shinji. Every time they took the car, she had to take the back seat to that child. What had he done to deserve the privilege of the adult's seat, huh? And she, who was actually competent, trained and the most mature being forced to sit in the child's seat. It was just further proof of how much that Katsuragi woman doted on him.

That lying, cheating, snivelling little rat, who'd gladly play on her feelings just to win a stupid drunken child's game. It wasn't like she actually cared for him herself, but still, it really was the lowest of the low. And she wasn't jealous, no way, not one damned iota of jealousy because he spends time with little miss honour student.

Hikari had it completely wrong. That girl was to romantic for her own good anyway. She'd end up as some housewife to an uncaring, cheating jock of a husband for sure.

"Anyway, this doesn't mean I've forgiven you for last night," Misato started. "I still expect you to pay me back for all the beer you stole, and the cleaning fee's. This is a reward for today's battle, nothing else, but anyway..." she turned to the back seat, with that airhead smile of hers plastered across her face, "...you can order whatever you'd like."

Anything?

Perhaps the restaurant would sell whale? She'd always wondered what the big deal was, why the Japanese went to such a big effort to keep hunting them. But still, Hikari's words festered in her mind.

Jealous, no way was she...

But, would she like to know if he'd meant it? Sure. It was obvious he was lying, but it'd be fun to make him sweat for a bit, wouldn't it? She could tower over him, force him into that corner like a beaten dog, and then, she'd ask the question. She didn't carer what the answer was, oh no... not one little bit...not at all, she just wanted the fun of making the boy sweat a little bit.

But if he said yes?

Silence for a moment...What if he said yes?

What if, Shinji wasn't lying, and he really did have a crush on her?

She could...she could... Well, she could just tease him all the harder then couldn't she. Maybe scam a few presents out of him before he realised the truth. Sure it would hurt, but that's all he needed really, to just grow a pair and get used to it. Not everybody would treat him as the glorious Shinji-sama. People could be right dickheads sometimes and it's high time he learned it.

That was it.

After dinner then, when they got home.

**I...I**

The Katsuragi apartment reeked of industrial cleaning fluid, to such an extent, that all four residents were on the verge of longing for the smell of beer, cigarettes and vomit to return. At least Pen-Pen could shack himself up in the fridge, the others really had no escape from it. Is it any wonder then, that when Shinji passed Asuka's room, and saw her laid out prone with her face buried in her pillow, that he thought she might just have been trying to escape the smell. Then, he noticed how the tight denim shorts she wore accentuated the curves of her butt, and thought something else entirely different and altogether more interesting.

Quickly, he jogged his way to his own closet, just in case the German girl could read minds. That was one idea, he didn't want her to know he'd had. He pondered to himself for a moment, wondering just why Asuka's name had popped so obviously into his head last night. She was probably still annoyed at him anyway, it was just her way.

Dinner, had been a quiet affair. Not uncomfortably quiet now, peacefully so. Aside from a quit discussion with Misato, the only thing that stuck out in his mind, was that Asuka had called him and idiot again. While that in itself was nothing unusual, but what made it notable, what made it strange, was that it was just about all she'd said.

She's probably still annoyed at me, he thought morosely. But then, what else was new?

The boy passed the open door quietly.

Asuka's thoughts though, were stranded on a beach of doubt. What had seemed like an enticing prospect three hours earlier, sudden took on an altogether more terrifying hue. She lay there, interrogating herself over and over again. The more she dwelled upon it, the more it seemed like a very dangerous thing to do.

That sticking point:

_What if he said yes?_

Of course he wouldn't! _But still, he might._ Oh come on, I can just tease him harder then, I don't like him, it's about time he learned that. It's a big bad world. _But if he really means it?_ How pathetic. _Really, for a boy to have a crush on you is pathetic?_ Yes! Look at him, he's a wimp, he's a pervert, he smells funny, he's a jerk off, he's a molly-coddled mammy's boy, it's him that's pathetic. _He cooks, he cleans, he's kind._ He's housebroken! _He's courageous_. Because people tell him to be, he does nothing for himself. _He's cute._ He looks like a Girl!

_He said he had a crush on you._

He lied!

_Are you sure?_

Dammit!

_So then, what if he says yes?What if he means it?_ It means I'm...open to him. I depend on him. _So you won't be independent any more? _No._You wont be able to just rely on yourself. _No! I don't need to rely on him. I don't want to rely on him. I won't be able to live without him. _**Are**__ you able to live without him? _Of course I can! I can live by myself. _Are you sure? _Yes!

_Then, why don't you ask him the question?_

_Are you afraid of him?_

I'm afraid of nothing, especially that whiny, snivelling little boy!

_Prove it then, ask him._

I will, I'll show you!

She jumped to her feet, shaking her hair to untangle it. Yes, she would show herself she wasn't afraid by asking him. And if he did say yes, then she would prove to herself just how much she hated him by making his life a living hell because of it. That would be perfect. That would be fun.

It therefore, came as a complete surprise to Shinji, that as as soon as he stepped from the bathroom, he found himself pinned to the wall by a German girl, with a deadly serious look on her face. His first thoughts, tempered and formed by previous experience, became his first words.

"I wasn't doing anything!"

Asuka looked unmoved, her eyes fixing him with a frozen death-gaze. Oh dear, she's going to kill me this time, he thought with deadpan acceptance washing over him. He watched as Sohryu swallowed something, before following whatever it was down her throat, through her chest, stomach, beyond her hips and all the way down to her feet. She took a deep breath, as if bracing herself. Her gaze though, never left the boy, and he doubted if she'd even blinked.

"Did you mean it?" she asked, her voice low and deadly.

"Mean...what?" Shinji stuttered, confused. What the hell could she be possibly be on about? Could she _really_ have read his thoughts from earlier. Dear God it actually seemed possible that she could've.

"What are you, dense?" she snarled. "Did you mean what you said?"

Shinji whimpered, quivering in terror. He didn't dare ask what he'd said, the child didn't want to know. He'd said a lot of things, and a lot of them could've been about Asuka. Which one did she mean? He couldn't say yes, without risking offending Asuka. He couldn't say no, for the exact same reason. He couldn't just run away either, as he was pinned hard against the wall by a rather deadly looking Bavarian. Her hands may have been soft, but her grip was made of iron. Oh damn, he'd have to know the charges against him before he could answer them. He'd have to ask.

"What?" he said, his tiny voice swallowed by the wall behind him.

"Last night, dummy. Did you mean it?"

He whimpered, a small twinge of frustration creeping into his throat.

"Mean what?"

Asuka growled. The boy was so stupid he couldn't even remember! Of course he had to be lying then. Of course, it also meant that she'd just have have to spell everything out in simple terms, like a monkey could understand then.

"Last night, you told me that you had a crush on me," she stated her town deliberate, cold and not too different from the way a teacher would talk down to an unruly child.

"I did?" the boy stuttered.

"How much did you drink last night Third _Child_?" Asuka blasted, her breath reeking of coke, cream and garlic. To Shinji, it was the stench of death. "Of course you did!"

It was only then, that the recollection struck him. The drinking, the game, the bottle of death, that question, and his desperate one word answer. Just why had he said her name anyway? That wasn't important! Stick to what'll keep you alive! If you said you had a crush on her, and she hates you, then she was probably offended by it, right? So then, what do you do?

"Sorry," the boy said meekly.

"Don't apologise, or try any bullshit way out like that, that's not what I want from you." Asuka stated, that clinical tone returning. "All I want to know is, if you truly meant it."

From that point on, Asuka's mouth launched forward on autopilot, her brain seeming to lose all control over it. She became a passenger on her own verbal highway, with no brakes or steering wheel to stop herself from going to a place she really didn't want to end up. Shinji, on the other hand, just wanted to be as far away as possible.

"If you tell me now, that it was just a convenient answer for you, a ploy to win the game even, and that you don't have any feelings whatsoever for me then," Shinji watched a chill run up the girls back, starting from her feet as something that had been forced down there escaped, "I will accept that. We can be friends and colleagues, if you want, but nothing more."

"Okay," Shinji gulped. Oh crap, he thought. Somebody, just distract her, just get me out of here. Anybody! Knock at the door, ring the telephone, do something to get me away!

"But, if you say you meant it, if we get...close." any other word felt dirty somehow. "If you say you like me, and I find out that you lied to me again, that you used my feelings as another convenient excuse to get yourself out of answering a difficult question: if I trust you, and you betray that trust with someone else, then I will_never_forgive you, understand?"

Her already cold voice seemed to hang as mist in the humid air for a few seconds.

"Yes," Shinji nodded, his voice shivering, the boys mind wheeling with possibilities, most resulting is his imminent or future death.

"If I can't have you to myself, then I want nothing else from you. So, what do you say?"

The only thing to come out of Shinji's mouth was a strange 'glock' sound as his tongue tied itself in knots. Please don't make me say anything, he begged inside. Please let me go, I'll do anything you want to just let me go.

"What's it going to be Shinji, yes or no?"

"Uh..." Again the words stalled on the long climb up the back of his throat. He wanted so desperately to just 'plead the second' as the Americans liked to say. No wonder they were so dead set about keeping that second amendment of theirs, it was a bloody useful thing in a pinch.

"What's it going to be boy, yes or no?"

Again, all that Shinji could do was hiccup. This was too much to think about, too much to take in in thirty seconds. There too many consequences to his choices. What if he made the wrong one?

"I'm not letting you go until you answer me,"

But I can't, Shinji wanted to say. He almost wanted to cry. He sure as hell could feel tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. He needed time, he needed to get his head clear. He needed just to get away from Asuka. He needed time to think it through fully.

"Can, I," he swallowed that blocking lump again, "please, if it's not too inconvenient for you or anything, have some time to think?"

"You can't just run away like a child. This is a question you have to answer_ now_,"

He sniffled.

"But I can't," he whined, finally getting those words out. "I can't," hiccup "I don't know yet. I need to think about it. I don't want to get it wrong. Just please let me go and I'll think about it!" begged the boy.

A soft understand passed over the girl's otherwise hard features. Only a slight softening, but still something Shinji could be, and was, thankful for.

"One hour," said Asuka quietly, after a moments consideration. "I'll give you one hour to think about it, no longer. I want your answer in sixty minutes, or I don't want any answer at all. I'm not going to let you just blow this off either."

The pressure eased on Shinji's shoulders as the girl took a step backwards. Her gaze though, still weighed heavily on the boy, her frozen eyes chilling him to the core. And yet still, it came as a great relief to be finally free, to be able to go wherever he wanted.

"Thank you," he bowed as low as his back would let him go. "Thank you very much Asuka."

"One hour," she growled.

The boy just nodded, before virtually running through the door.

Asuka sighed, a strange sick feeling sliding up her throat as she staggered her way to the couch. She flopped onto it, with a weight that surprised herself for a moment. Dear God what have I done to myself, she thought. She wouldn't admit it, even to herself, but she was hoping Shinji never came back. Things would be simpler then. She'd just tease him about it for a bit, then things would carry on just as they had.

She looked to the clock over the television.

Fifty-nine minutes to go.

Better watch something then, to kill the time.

**I...I**

Shinji ran when the door closed, he ran as far as he could from his captor, and he knew himself that he had no intention of ever going back. Freedom never tasted so good. His legs managed to carry him about as far as a nearby park before he finally stopped. He propped himself up against a cooling steel railing, staring down at his own shimmering, panting reflection in the pool below. He knew he wanted to dive in for a swim, but, he also knew the water was really only about six inches deep. Beneath the water itself, was another six inches of glass, followed by a kilometre drop to the geofront below.

He looked at his watch. Thirty five minutes to go.

It was late, perhaps a little too late to be out. The park lamps were lit, the little white globes casting a warming hue on the path's and tree's around, tracing out specific walks and loopways in the gloom. Beyond the park, there was only darkness, the rest of the city still in battle-formation until, the evacuees returned.

He'd always felt it a little lonely, a little too spartan when it was like that, and the chilled night breeze only served to amplify the sensation. Maybe, he should just go back to Asuka after all. Even if all he did was say no, he could be home, instead of out, alone, on a dark night. She said she'd accept that, didn't she? It was the easier option then.

"Yo Shinji," a voice said behind him. "It's so late, I didn't think that was you for a moment. Does Katsuragi know you're out at this time?"

The boy wheeled around, nearly falling backwards into the pool for a moment, to see Kaji sitting on a pale park bench before him, smiling in that uniquely laconic manner of his.

"Kaji, sir. No, she doesn't" he answered, a little taken aback.

"That really isn't like you Shinji," the man said, though not angrily. "Misato throw you out because of the mess you made?" he sighed with a slight chuckle, "I've been there a few times,"

"No," he said guiltily, looking at his feet for a moment. "It's just..." he caught himself before he could get much further.

"Need some time to yourself?" Kaji finished for him.

"Yeah," Shinji nodded. That would do for an explanation.

"Well," Kaji leaned back over, to look at the stars above him. "I was waiting on someone, but they seem to be a no-show today. I got some time if you're looking to blow off a little steam,"

"It's okay," Shinji said softly.

There was a silent pause, while Shinji pondered over an idea. Kaji seemed to be the only person who ever treated him honestly, perhaps, then Kaji might be be able to give him an honest answer to his dilemma, and _tell_ him the right thing to do. Yes, that would be the best. It wouldn't be my fault if it was the wrong choice then, would it?

"Um..." he started, a little uncomfortably. How could he ask this? "What do you know about talking to women?"

For a moment, Kaji seemed a little surprised by that, but he just smiled a knowing smile, almost as if he'd expected it.

"That's really something best left to your father, Shinji," Kaji answered. "It wouldn't be my proper place."

Shinji scowled. "My father's out of the country at the moment," the boy stated the facts.

It was nothing but an excuse, and the pair knew it, but it was one that also had the added convenience of being true.

"Well, I see," Kaji nodded, sighing again, this time long and somewhat tired. "You'd best sit down then. There is a wide, deep ocean between the sexes, and it's not something easily explained in a hurry,"

Shinji nodded once more, and placed himself down on that cold, hard bench. For a moment, he found himself strangely reminded of the bed's in the brig at NERV, and he wondered why.

"Perhaps, you should start at the beginning then," the bearded man suggested.

And so Shinji did. A little hesitantly at first, but once the river began to flow, it picked up speed and quickly became a torrent of information. In his own unique, shaking, embarrassed tones Shinji told Kaji everything. He told him about the party the night before, the game they'd played, the name he'd given, Asuka's weird behaviour since then even. The boy repeated verbatim the exchange from half an hour earlier, well, repeated as best he could. Finally, he told Kaji about the question, and how he had no idea how to answer it.

All Kaji said was: "I see,"

Shinji was almost disappointed by that. It seemed utterly unfair that he had spilled the beans, and received nothing in return.

"Well, you have to tread carefully Shinji. Asuka's bared her soul to you, something that even you should know she does not do lightly. You could really hurt her if you do the wrong thing Shinji,"

"I know,"the boy said, in muted tones. "I don't want to hurt her, that's why I asked you what to do,"

Kaji thought for a moment, stroking his stubbled chin.

"Perhaps, you may have already answered your own question there. Maybe, you should ask yourself why you don't want to hurt her, and why her name was the first one to come into your head. Look into your own heart for answers to these questions, then you'll know how to answer hers."

Shinji found himself falling into a dark abyss of thought. Asuka's name had just appeared there, without provocation or intent. It seemed to be an absolutely, inherently correct answer to give. Like two plus two equals four. And, just like a simple maths problem, with a few moments clear, uninterrupted thought, the answer suddenly slotted perfectly into place.

The boy jumped hurriedly to his feet, glanced at his watch. Twenty-five minutes to go. He braced to take off again, before looking back at his advisor.

"Thank you," Shinji said, with an odd brightness, before he remembered to bow.

"Good luck, Shinji," Kaji said, still smiling. Shinji was already halfway up that path by the time he heard the words.

Twenty-five minutes! It took me almost as long to get here! The very real possibility of actually coming up with an answer, and not making it back in time anyway loomed large in his mind. It seemed so utterly ironic that he had, at first, no intention of going back, but now that he wanted to go back, he might not make it. It was so absurd he could almost have laughed at it, if he wasn't about to cough his lungs up from the exertion.

Twenty minutes left, and he'd only just gotten out of the park. It hadn't taken this long to get out there, had it? His thoughts were interrupted by the blare of a cars horn, it's driver annoyed that the piece of road he'd intended use had been momentarily occupied by the speeding fourteen year old.

"Sorry," Shinji wheezed.

The lift ride up to the tenth floor, where Katsuragi apartment was, was perhaps the longest in Shinji's life. Except for maybe the first time, or when that bastard kid'd pushed all the buttons. Anything to keep his mind off the fact that there were still three floors to go, and one minute remaining to get there. It took forever for the stainless steel box to finally settle into place. With herculean effort, the boy blasted through the still opening doors, liquid fire burning through his veins as he ran, his every exertion heaving off the concrete walls around him. Slowly, the door at the end of that long, green mile of vinyl approached. Slowly, the time on his watch edged closer and closer to zero.

The boy practically hammered into the door, not really intending to use it as a brake, but his legs had just proven too tired to do the job. What mattered though, was that he had stopped at the right place, with twenty seconds to spare. He fumbled with his keys, haste makes waste, another ten seconds wasted. Five seconds for his quivering hands to get the door open, and he blasted through, past a rather stunned Misato who could only offer a half hearted and bewildered "Welcome home," before realising the boy hadn't bothered to take off his shoes on the way in.

"Asuka I got an answer!" he shouted, his voice hoarse and heaving, "I got an answer!"

"Well," The girl stood before him, hands on hips, legs apart as a show of rock solid stability and power. "What is it?"

Shinji was bent double, heaving great gasps of air into his lungs, trying to answer the debt his body had built up. His legs threatened to fall out from under him, how stupid would that have been? Quivering, shaking from the run, and in desperate need of a shower, he slowly stood himself up again.

He looked at Asuka, at her loose green t-shirt and tight denim shorts, at her seemingly stoic features. Those eyes still sent chills down his spine, but yet, he felt a strange smile creep across his lips as he ordered his answer in his mind.

He could say it. One word, that's all.

Not too hard now.

**I...I**

Morning for Kensuke and Touji, had been a profitable one indeed. They'd measured their haul in four figures, easily, and they could've sold more if they hadn't run out of prints.

"Well, I think that's enough now for the Baneblade kit," Kensuke grinned, fingering the cold, hard currency.

"Hey, remember my cut man," Touji reminded him, "It's not just Kensuke Enterprises Inc. y'know. You got to spread the wealth,"

"Yeah, of course," the fair haired boy answered sourly. "Even still, that should be more than enough to put me over the top. The hammer of the Emperor shall be mine at last!" he announced to the playground.

"What?" Touji blinked. "Why don't you buy normal thing's, like dating games or stuff? Toy soldiers are for children and weirdo's,"

"Bah, some lousy heretics just don't understand," the army fanboy batted dismissively, right before he caught something...strange through the corner of his eye.

From their vantage point by the railing on the school roof, the two 'photographers' afforded themselves a birds eye view almost off the schoolyard, including the school gate. The idea being, that any irate teacher/class representative/she-wolf could be spotted in good time, and the merchandise secreted away before there could be any trouble. In that respect then, it had just managed to prove itself very effective.

Kensuke adjusted his glasses... no way. No way in hell could that be real.

"Touji.." he said, gesturing towards the gate.

The tracksuited teenager blinked for a moment, before focusing in on the target. It took only a moment for the line between eye to brain, the brain to mouth to connect.

"That...Traitor!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the schoolyard.

"No way, he can't being doing _that_ willingly," Kensuke remarked. "She has to have done something...weird to him. Some foul female bewitching spell or something. I mean, it's completely out of character! Shinji would never do it."

Three stories below, and fifty yards away across the school grounds, Shinji was walking through the school gates, loosely holding the hand of Asuka Langley Sohryu. And the strangest thing of all?

He was actually smiling as he did so.

**I...I**

Done... OOC up the whazoo... cheesy as hell and under the gun, but it's done. Enjoy? Probably not...

-Dartz


End file.
